Hello Airstream Community!
My husband and I are looking to purchase our first Airstream, which we intend to gut and remodel. While we have been doing our research for quite some time (with lots of help from the forums), yet we still feel like novices when it comes to shopping for the airstream we will make our own.
Right now, we have our sights set on a
1962 Overlander, which we went out to take a look at it this weekend, and were overwhelmed with how much we saw, and how little we knew...
The previous owner has had the Airstream sitting in his garage for about ten years- says he never even took it on the road- although he updated quite a lot- new fridge, new heater, new hot water heater, new fans, re-rivited all around, also had receipts from getting the axles aligned..
From the looks of it the exterior seemed to be in great shape cosmetically.
However, I became concerned when I peaked underneath... There were large sections of the Belly Pan that had been removed from the Rear- it appeared to me that the back (rib?) section of the frame was completely rusted away (see pictures).. does this look like something we should be concerned with? I've read a few posts about replacing the Belly Pan- sounds pretty tedious but doable, however I am really concerned with the appearance of the framework underneath... Any thoughts?
The interior was pretty torn up, but didn't look to be in bad shape- the bathroom was not hooked up and the owner had never tested it to see if it was in working order. The interior skins were covered with small black specks of mildew/mold- which he said can be removed with diluted bleach. We did not notice any wet areas inside, and the floors didn't look rotted out or damaged for the most part. However, another concern I had was that the bathroom (located in the rear over the section pictured) inner skins were slighty bowed out. Could this be a warning sign that the frame underneath is not secure?
I'd appreciate any thoughts or feedback- please see the pictures below!!
Thanks!